The Hawaii State Legislature is considering legislation to allow gay couples to wed in Hawaii.

PHOTO: DIANE LEE

The House is scheduled to begin the public hearing at 10 a.m. Oct. 31 and end at midnight. To accomodate an anticipated high volume of testifiers at the state House Judiciary and Finance Committee's public hearing, lawmakers are waiving the 24-hour deadline requirement to submit testimony.

Between today and midnight tomorrow, you can register online or at the state Capitol, then wait until your number is called. Each testimony will be limited to two minutes.

Don’t be surprised if the House committee’s public hearing runs longer than the Senate committee’s 12 hour-long public hearing.

“If people have signed up and we hit the midnight hour and they have not yet had a chance to speak in person, there is a possibility that we will continue the public hearing on Friday to allow them a chance to speak at the public hearing on Friday,” says Carolyn Tanaka, director of communications for the state House.

Today the Senate voted 20-4 to advance the measure to the House committee.